J714
2015 THIS REPORT HAS BEEN PRODUCED BY
Niki DeGroot
NEWER MODEL
FINAL REPORT
HOW TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN CHANGES HAVE SHAPED CAREERS IN DESIGN
2
The
Impact of Technology for Graphic Designers A
sk anyone who considers themselves to be a graphic designer: “When did you know you wanted to pick design as your career?� Most will tell you they knew as little tykes using crayons and finger paints: they wanted a job where they could be creative. After learning there were few job prospects by majoring in studio art, many were steered by college career counselors to a major that would give them more marketable skills: commercial art or more commonly known as graphic design.
Niki DeGroot | J714 Final Report | Spring 2015
Background
The graphic design profession of today is facing its biggest transition in history. Once considered a stable job for the artistically-inclined, the demand for rich visuals and easy access to graphic design tools has created a crowded job market for fresh graduates and veteran designers looking for work. This report illustrates the current landscape for graphic design careers, and attempts to share options for those seeking to enter the colorful and explosive forecast for careers in digital visual arts.
3 Current demand for creative professionals is at its greatest.7 But with the demand comes frustrating obstacles. New graduates of sophisticated art and design schools possess an envy-inducing portfolio and keen sense of trends, but typically lack experience and people skills. Veteran designers finding themselves subjected to reduction-in-force or simply looking for new opportunities are met with a competitive job market, and can feel “aged-out” of many skills. How can the gap be bridged? It helps to look at the history.
Designers, Then: Personal First-Aid Kit Required Jobs for students graduating with design degrees in the 1960s and 1970s did not depend as much on technology as they did on experience and craft. Ad agencies did not have Google Images to endlessly search for images sorted by keywords. Prepress departments were not expected to be designers or illustrators.
require a lightning-fast adaptability to keep up with rising tide of technological change knocking at their door. That knock would come from a few fledgling companies: Apple Computer, Adobe, Aldus and Hewlett-Packard.
Designers, Now: Knowledge of Computers Not Optional Each of the four key companies produced technologies that, when combined, allowed graphic designers, publishers and prepress professionals to bring the whole publishing process in-house. It allowed designers to output their custom designed proofs to PDF for email instead of painstakingly gluing a document together for review. Those four companies were responsible for the hardware and software that, to a large degree, still drives the electronic publishing industry and created desktop publishing.
The More You Know, The Better Chances You Have Nonetheless, designers today can breathe an electronic sigh of relief! No more harsh chemicals, sticky fingers or delicate paste-ups to contend with: but you are now required to not only know how to write and type on a computer, but master of as many Adobe products as possible.
A graphic designer’s “office” had a light box, X-Acto knives, darkrooms, enormous film cameras, rulers, and rubber cement on illustration boards.11 Many designers worked around caustic, pungent chemicals, and sported at least a few battle scars from razor blade accidents.12 Little did these intrepid and skilled craftspeople know that just a few years later computer, sophisticated Job descriptions now require software and the Internet would graphic designers to know far more completely change their career: and NEWER MODEL: How Technology-Driven Changes Have Shaped Careers In Design
4 than just how to draw pictures. A quick search on Indeed.com for Raleigh, North Carolina resulted in 105 jobs, and all require something different but similar: both print and web design experience.
absolutely everything. From shipping to printing to going over contracts to answering emails. There are so many things. The most important thing is having a passion and a unique voice.”
Insight from pros
Veteran designers* look back to move forward “The main thing I remember is the smell,” laughs Denise “Steer away Smith, Graphic Arts from job Director for the North postings that Carolina Department don’t have of Environment.3 “I was what you exposed to so many aren’t capable chemicals in previous of. Know what jobs that computers have you want to eliminated.” do. Think of whatever it is Niki interviewed two you enjoyed veteran designers* the most: who have witnessed brochures, record transformations exhibit design. in their field. Look for Niki also interviewed those jobs. Use the keywords based on skills Jamie Kritzer, Public Relations specialist for and talents you want to do daily, the NC Department and take a job you think you can of Environment.5 His grow in. If you pick a job that is viewpoint on newspapers above or below your skill level has been included you may be miserable.” to shed insight on In the podcast, After the Jump, the drastic decline in Episode 98, The Future of Print readership. Magazines, Paul Lowe says, “You have to be an expert in * The term veteran designers is not a ubiquitous term, but one the author has chosen for this report.
Niki DeGroot | J714 Final Report | Spring 2015
Keeping Up
A Different Hat for Each Head Veteran designers worry about burning out. They not only worry about it for themselves but for the new graduates of design schools. The expectation to be a “unicorn” and know a diverse range of skills is exhausting and
impractical. “People would not get paid nearly as enough as they should for knowing all of these [different forms of software and techniques]. It would be good to know these things for my job, but I’m worried about burnout. Designers have access to so many tools now that folks can access and work on a brochure from across the world.”
5 Denise Smith has worked as a graphic designer in North Carolina for 32 years. As Graphic Arts Director for the state’s Department of Environment Creative Services shop, Denise has witnessed unprecedented changes in her job responsibilities as well as projects requested by the department. During an interview on March 31, 2015, Denise was interviewed by a questionnaire created for this report (see sample of survey on page 9) about the impact technology has made on the creative industry. Denise majored in Commercial Art in the 1980s at East Carolina University. She recalls: “After college, I took a job with a small printer, learned how to set up jobs for print. Everything was set up on an illustration board and Linotype on a roll. We would buy special decorative fonts, lay them out onto a galley, and rub them on pressure-sensitive film onto an illustration board. My work surface was a drafting table, and we used a wax roller to adhere for outputting typesetting.” Denise has adapted to the ways of the modern designer. She lamented learning how to work and understand a computer. She still produces the same materials: annual reports, museum exhibits and posters, but she also is expected to shoot professional head shots and event photography, edit the department websites, as well as supervise a staff and handle budget and billing for her group. Denise had to learn the department’s Content
Management System (CMS) through classes, on the fly, and by watching other people. Kelly Vaughn is a freelance graphic designer and owner of Verity Yacht Publications.4 Also going by the online moniker “Document Geek,” Kelly’s design company’s niche is owner’s manuals for custom yachts. She does not have a graphic design degree, but studied Home Economics in college. Her foray into design began in 2001 when a colleague of her mother’s accounting practice needed a hand with technical manuals for wastewater treatment plants. She had no experience but a strong desire to learn. Her work experience up to that time was in the food service and retail industries, and those skills helped her see how things could be improved in workflow and customer relations. In 2008, she opened her own design studio with her husband and has enjoyed the freedom. She knows it won’t make her a millionaire but absolutely enjoys the option to sleep in, tend to her garden, or sit on her porch and watch her dogs play. Cubicle Potatoes Denise noted strikingly that she sits a lot more now. Earlier in her career she mostly stood and moved around between the drafting tables and darkroom. Her only job was to paste-up designs she created, and she would carefully walk designs to a different building, because the typesetter was the sole person to handle font selection and column size. Eventually
NEWER MODEL: How Technology-Driven Changes Have Shaped Careers In Design
because they are all getting the same message at the same time. You get the information turned around much more quickly. But it can end up hurting because there is such an expectation for speed: you’re expected to get things to the end user so quickly that it sacrifices accuracy. You have to be much more careful and mindful with technology.”
the job tasks of designer, typesetter and paper representative combined. I Can Haz Photoshop? It is no surprise that even as faster and more affordable design options affect design professionals, clients and customers now demand even quicker turnarounds at rock-bottom prices. “Technology has harmed our career,” Denise stated. “It is so open and user-friendly that anyone thinks they can do graphic design.” She gave an example of having to teach an old co-worker how to use PageMaker, and she worried she would lose her job. “The Internet is everything to my job: it is required for emails, communication, time sheets, payroll... The graphics industry would be lost without the Internet,
and YouTube has been instrumental in many careers.” Faster, Faster, Faster With faster computer processors, bigger screens and cameras with a million-pixel resolution, technology can be faulted for the break-neck speed with which customers expect final product. “It is unfair to expect someone with an English degree to know code. It is great to have that knowledge and appreciation, but you should not promote yourself as an expert. Leave the tricky stuff to the experts.” Jamie Kritzer: “It is great to communicate a message to seven people over email
Effortless Technology Most designers have a sophisticated setup in their workspace. Dual monitors, Dropbox and Creative Cloud have all sped up the multitasking ability for the modern designer. Now software can be updated while we sleep, clients can receive their proofs instantly, and multiple monitors have boosted the screen real estate for powerful multi-tasking. Laser printers can produce beautiful and striking documents painlessly.9 But clients seeking quality printed products really should leave it up to the experts. “Quick copy printed quality degrades because people can rightmouse-click on an image and use it for a publication. But when it gets printed and looks terrible the client gets upset. If clients knew how long it takes to do the work right, they wouldn’t try to do it themselves. I have made the mistake of doing things too quickly and then it creates a
Evolve
false sense of priority in the minds of the customer.” Many designers have access to stock image websites and depend on them daily. Whether it is their agency or department that has a paid membership, or images found from a quick Google search, it is useful to access other designer’s work quickly. From borrowing a design for inspiration or paying for a vector graphic icon set, stock websites have become a necessary part of the design job. Does that mean designers are lazy or are stealing? Not so says Wired magazine writer, Clive Thompson: “by offloading data, we free our [brains] for more ‘human’ tasks like brainstorming and daydreaming.”10 New York Times writer David Brooks says “I had thought that the magic of the information age was that it allowed us to know more, but then I realized [it] allows us to know less. It provides us with external cognitive servants- silicon memory systems, collaborative online filters, consumer preference algorithms
and networked knowledge. We can burden these servants and liberate ourselves.” A very fancy way of saying, let the dreamers dream, while letting the machine rummage up the mundane tasks. Why draw a star burst from scratch when you can download an image for free? It is how you use it is what makes it creative: the blending modes, the color choices, the composition. Ancient Dinosaurs… Denise listed projects and formats that are no longer requested or are now obsolete: “Overhead projector overlays, VHS and CD duplications, Zip discs, floppy discs. We had a machine that cost our printer $11,000 that took a photographer’s film, and output the film to a finished slide.” It is important to note the companies that used to produce these types of formats. Kodak and Polaroid, once household names for photography, decided to close their doors after digital cameras outpaced film. The rule of thumb is to not get too comfortable with technology, because as quickly as something is introduced a more efficient competition is waiting to replace them. …Dinosaurs Make a Comeback? There seems to feel as if design trends ebb and flow with the styles of days gone by.8 Logos and type treatments that have
K: Kelly Vaughn | J: Jamie Kritzer | D: Denise Smith
8
L-R: Interviewees for this report are Jamie Kritzer of NC DENR, Kelly Vaughn, aka The Document Geek of Verity Yacht Publishing. Not pictured: Denise Smith of NC DENR.
a “vintage feel” make reappearance every few years, and this will probably never change. But will we see a shift back to older forms of design output? D: “I don’t. Because of the expense and concern for the environmental impact. But mostly because of the amount of time that it takes. Some folks still use a sketchpad to draw out ideas before digitizing. But we now have the need for instant gratification. Nobody wants to wait. It frustrates me.” Specialized instruction If you have exhausted your job search, it might be an option for you to consider brushing up on a new skill. The Creative Group,2 the standard in graphic design job recruitment, unveiled a list of popular digital jobs with strong job outlook that did not exist even five years ago. Pay Per Click experts,
Search Engine Optimization specialists, Social Media Managers, Content Managers, User Experience designers, and Applications Developers will be hot jobs to invest the extra education. Many of these positions involve design to a smaller degree than graphic design listings, but still offer a solution for those seeking to stay relevant in the changing tide driven by technology.
“Start with the basics: you have to understand the design concepts. Forget computers and software: you have to take the courses to understand design. Once you have that under your belt, you have to do the training. Keep up with all the trends. Keep educating yourself. Learning is continual.”
D: “Definitely get a website. Someone has to be able to go and look at the full range of your work. Social media is tricky, but is good to have a network. Word of mouth always works. Keep content fresh and updated.”
Be hungry to learn and be humble. Be willing to try new things, don’t put yourself in a box. I went from writing to design, back to writing and again design. Companies would close, but at the time I was building skills.”
K: “Get feedback from the right people. Your mom will always think your work is beautiful. J: “Everyone has social media and But it doesn’t mean they are a it is recommended. But you have graphic design professionals. to be careful how about how you So find people that actually use it. Learn as much as you can do work for pay. Be hungry to about digital media. Take courses, learn and humble. And all the get certifications. Market yourself awesome reviews you had in as a digital media professional. school don’t matter because Advanced degrees would really people were not paying you to help.” create work.
Niki DeGroot | J714 Final Report | Spring 2015
Findings & Wrap-Up
Stick to a niche Companies that specialize in a few things tend to fare better than ones who diversify. But it depends on the products and demand. If enough clients are requesting sticker designs and you are a logo designer, then that would be a natural progression for your business. But if you are a logo designer and you have one or two clients requesting video production, don’t try to take it on just for the potential income. The time and cost you spend on software and equipment will never recover if you had just instead forwarded the video request onto an expert multimedia producer.
Survey Results I created a survey1 to poll designers either in the field or candidates for graduating in 2015.6 On March 27, this survey was sent through LinkedIn, Facebook and email. I received twelve responses. Their responses are recorded. Most of the respondents are young graphic designers from Meredith College or NC State College of Design. I met with a group of students and interviewed them during the annual AIGA Student Portfolio Review. I also talked to career recruiters from The Creative Group to find their statistics for job growth. •
I can’t imagine not having technology. It helps me generate ideas that come to mind for projects really fast. And I’m always learning new key commands and simple ways to do things.
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Being able to quickly and easily produce many concepts and have more freedom in decision making, more opportunities for pushing further and refining as well as making mistakes and starting again
Selected comments from survey How has technology improved your graphic design skills? • Technology makes experimentation financially feasible. You can create and modify any concept a multitude of ways with no further resource consumption than your time and energy.
10 • Technology has made it much faster and easier to play around with complex ideas and designs. •
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Certainly image manipulation that once had to be done in a darkroom is much more easily achieved with Photoshop. I don’t perhaps feel technology has helped my understanding of graphic design, but it allows more of my ideas to be successfully executed. I’ve transitioned from very old school (specifying type for typesetting, using stat and boom cameras, cutting amber/rubylith, paste up, etc.) to modern design and production methods (computers and programs, digitizing art, digital photography, etc.). I’ve also embraced an entirely digital workflow, from electronic manuscript to electronic publication (EPUB, PDF, website) and to laserprint finished product. No aspect of what I do has entirely gone away. Even though it has changed to a digital
format the creative aspect of the work has remained consistent. I’ve learned that good design leverages the strengths of the tools at hand, and the product reflects the designer’s ability to work within the medium. •
I started in the days of pasteup, galleys, and marked-up manuscripts. I’ve seen the industry change dramatically thanks to the use of computers. I’ve also seen respect for my profession drop as anyone with a PC and 800 fonts thinks they are a graphic designer.
• The Web enables me to search for images, fonts, techniques, etc. Where I used to spend time each month reading print magazines, I now search online for what I need, when I need it. This is probably the best thing about technology: having the world at my fingertips. •
and that’s really exciting. It makes things easier to do, but it also makes you consider whether that particular bell or whistle is necessary to the design. •
What technology is essential to your workflow as a designer? • Technology has actually enhanced my appreciation of artistic talent. Drawing with computer programs and tablets is a unique and exciting experience; but I still draw with pen and paper because I enjoy seeing a vision or idea become reality in any medium. All of my design comps are now digital, but that is mostly due to the convenience of electronic conveyance. I used to create comps with acetate overlaying art (hand painting every letter on the reverse side of acetate!), and the slower process allowed more time for more creative thinking.
My design classes began by teaching the basics by hand — I’ve worked with rubylith, non-repro blue pencils, technical pens, and • pasting up type, even though I entered college in 1995. Any technology has to be based in those ideas, too. But the technology can take those • fundamentals to new levels,
Niki DeGroot | J714 Final Report | Spring 2015
If you not proficient in the use of technology, it is an absolute barrier to entry in the field.
Because technology upgrades happen so quickly, by the time I become “workflow proficient” I am obsolete! I use Pinterest for inspiration, Photoshop for actions.
11 •
Adobe has cornered the software market, and their software really is essential to my work. Also, I can’t live without my Wacom tablet. My hand cramps if I have to revert back to a mouse. Ugh.
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I use a good majority of the Adobe Creative suite, my Mac (there are often mac/PC compatibility issues if you try and design with a PC) and my iPhone. I don’t even own a “real” camera (35mm yes but not digital)
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A full utilization of InDesign features has made possible large accomplishments, and these previously required considerably more time. The use of conditional states, hierarchical style structures, XML encoding, and large document management (BOOK feature) are all utilized to create multipurpose publications, i.e., print, PDF, EPUB, and websites. These features, when used systematically, enable me to focus more on design. Definitely the entire Adobe creative suite - not just software; it’s also card readers that work (hrmph!), printers for proof-of-concept, video capture, all the million little things no one seems to think about or standardize. Creative Suite/Cloud makes it easy to add new elements to an InDesign layout, a Photoshop file, etc. They all work together to allow me to get things done.
Do you see a shift back to older forms of technology? • There are certainly creative people using letterpress, screen printing, and other old school technologies to achieve their design goals. Something about the tactile feel of them adds to the appeal of current projects: screen printing that is then scanned and incorporated into digital layouts is one example. •
I have noted a huge interest in retro video and photo, including old 8mm and Brownie camera film - organic papers and elements of nature incorporated into final products. Whatever is a unique specialty gains notoriety.
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I’m constantly pursuing a paperless workflow, and other’s needs for hard copy has always been an issue. I’m still incorporating into the workflow hardcopy proof for persons who still prefer to read and mark up paper. I don’t see that ever going away.
NEWER MODEL: How Technology-Driven Changes Have Shaped Careers In Design
12 •
Letterpress printing is a • huge deal right now, as is 35mm photography. I think these older forms can help bring back a tangible aspect • to our work that seems to become more sterile when only viewed on a monitor.
I use image searches for illustration, and Google to search for how to do a technique.
or fashion photography. Perhaps the days of the paperback are numbered, but print will hang strong in other genres. Print newspapers are doomed.
I’m so grateful for services like Lynda.com and video tutorials on YouTube • I think books are here to because they make it stay, pretty much forever. • While I would never want easy to keep up with everNewspapers may not to go back to those ways, changing technology and be around after another I do think the more you techniques. I spent an entire decade, but books will never understand about them, day last week just learning die. Everyone loves books. the better your design will about the best way to set up There’s something special be. Hand-constructing long documents, and it was about books. something really gives amazing. • Print is not dead. I think a new appreciation and • Pinterest is a fun way to view people will always want to understanding of how things collections of art/graphic have something tangible, like layers or blend modes design, though formal but maybe that’s because or overprinting work. portfolio websites are more I’m big on sensory-based • I see a return to letterpress interesting because of the memories. printing. The crush of the additional information. I love thick stock and tactile Design Recharge, by Dianne • I think it will dwindle, definitely. But I like to nature the artwork makes Gibbs, because of the believe there will always into the paper is what opportunity to ask questions exist people who don’t want people love. Photoshop during her interviews with their book to run out of cannot produce indentions artists/designers. Before battery. like a letterpress can. being able to access the Web, I was not able to do • I do see consolidations and any of this, or only in a very How does the Internet play closings of newspapers. limited manner. It’s a pretty a role in your graphic design BUT - They are not going big difference! skills? away....but they will • The Internet plays a role in have to become highly my graphic design skills What do you think will specialized and have by allowing me to search happen to the future of significantly pertinent for tips and techniques, print, particularly books and content to become “offnewspapers? research what has been line useful.” Publishers will done before, research other • Books will always have a have to deeply know and place. I cannot imagine graphic designers, and read understand their subscriber/ getting as much impact blog posts about design. client to make an offline from a tablet version of version of any content work. a book of architectural
Niki DeGroot | J714 Final Report | Spring 2015
13 •
Print isn’t going away. The quantity of printed pieces will drop, but this is forcing a shift to higher quality pieces being produced.
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Books won’t stop working if they get wet.
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Printed maps are portable and easier to navigate than phones.
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Magazines don’t have batteries that need to be charged. No need to look for Wi-Fi spots to read a book.
Has technology improved or degraded the quality of design? • I think technology has done both. Depending on the designer (their personality, their experience level, etc). technology can either improve or degrade the quality of design. I think it is up to the designer to use all the tools at their disposal (their brain, their craft, their artistic talent for illustration or photography, technology, etc) and not just rely on technology. •
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It has shifted, become more accessible to the masses. It has increased the number of people producing graphic design, which inherently increases the quantity of poor work. This does not diminish the end results of those with actual talent or skill. In some ways, both. Because the technology is so much more accessible and affordable now, there are more quick copy shops in business to produce printing. But I have found that the staff at quick copy shops are not as knowledgeable as staff at larger, more traditional print shops. Let’s say that a quick copy shop has a $50,000 printer, but the staff (generally speaking) has only a basic understanding of printing, and no way to deal with professional
grade files and/or requests. It seems to me to quick copy shops are more designed for consumers and very small businesses. So as a customer of quick copy shops, I have found (repeatedly) that if what I need falls outside of their standard set of items that they produce, they get stuck. They don’t have the knowledge and experience to produce what I want. For example, if I want to supply my own 1-up business card file as a PDF, they have neither the knowledge of how to impose it, nor the software capable of imposing it. Or if I have a PDF with unusual page numbering, they don’t know how to print just the selected page range. Or if I want more than one choice for cardstock or cover stock, I would either have to supply my own cover stock or literally go to another print shop. •
Conversely, quick copy shops can now turn out basic large format printing, which wasn’t common even just five years ago. I think the technology of the machinery has become more advanced and affordable, but the knowledge of the staff who actually run the equipment and work at the copy shops has not kept up at an equal pace.
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So for very basic jobs (for consumers) quick copy shops offer more than ever before. But for a professional customer with experience in print buying, the technology advances serve only to push me more toward real print shops (like AlphaGraphics), and away from quick copy shops (UPS Store, Staples, Kinkos, etc).
• Whether technology has improved or degraded design really depends on the person using the tools, as is the case with anything. Just because I give you a hammer and nail doesn’t mean you’re going to drive the nail straight and create a strong bond. Continued on page 16
NEWER MODEL: How Technology-Driven Changes Have Shaped Careers In Design
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How will you stay current with design trends? Drawing Maintain active membership with AIGA Earn an Adobe Certification Update skills aligned with job market Join a committee or creative group Mentor new designers Attend graphic design conferences Continuing education Network with professionals 0
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Ability to solve design problems Design thinking Video 3D Animation Mobile design Business Learn a programming language Oral/Presentation skills Advertising Copywriting Photography Learn web design 0
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How should designers market themselves? Social media (Twitter, Behance, Dribbble, Facebook, etc.)
Word of mouth
Personal website with online portfolio
Networking with other designers
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Niki DeGroot | J714 Final Report | Spring 2015
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Findings & Wrap-Up
What skills have you learned are useful beyond print design?
Why did you choose to be a graphic designer? 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 I always wanted to be a designer
I am artistically inclined and this was more marketable than studio art
What is your current job status?
36%
other
Do you feel prepared to enter the job market?
students
36%
yes
employed
no
64%
64%
If the job market is oversaturated with designers, what would you do?
27% Fill experience gaps for jobs where design is useful (UX/UI, game design, mobile, etc.) Start up my own company
64%
9%
Research a design niche that I am comfortable with and focus my job search
16 Continued from page 13 •
Both. It depends on what you look at and what your standard is. Are there beautiful lithographs still being made? Not so much. But pristine photos? Everyone with a phone can obtain one.
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I see technology as having influenced design but not having improved or degraded the quality of • design. We laugh about drop shadows, but odd styles have always occurred • and become the new retro. Wood block type, photo compositors, lithography, etc. have all influenced design by providing new tools for creativity. What doesn’t last is usually what was not quality design to begin with.
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What jobs do you think How do you stay informed someone with a graphic design about changes in technology in degree can get? the graphics industry? • Print designer, web • I stay informed through designer, interior designer, online reading about what’s environmental designer ... new, who’s tested it, and and those are just some of what it lacks or delivers. I the “design” jobs. If you’re a don’t need to be the first to “design thinker” in addition know, but I do need to know to being a graphic designer, before my client knows, I I think the creative market is am never comfortable being rife with possibilities. the last to know.
I think it’s proliferated design; I bet the volume of “design” today is roughly the same bell curve of quality.
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Depends on your point of view. Technology has enabled many graphic design professionals to grow and expand their horizons. It has also allowed a great number of casual “designers” to claim a stake.
As an undergrad, I’d like to hope there are many. Haha
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I prefer to read about technological advances in the news, even those developments that will not come to market for a while, so that I can understand how these advances will impact my work. I read online forums and blogs when I can to learn how other persons are reacting to new technologies, software features, etc. I tend to be an early adopter, and I frequently challenge myself to learn new software features.
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I use social media to stay informed of changes in technology in the graphics industry. I also listen to the InDesign Secrets podcast and go to Pepcon. With those things in mind, I know I cannot keep up to date on all the changes, so I choose to keep up to date on only
Lots of jobs. Design is an integral aspect of so many processes, and design is often the testing ground for how well ideas are communicated in various mediums. Pretty much everything we encounter is influenced by design, whether we recognize the language of design or not. Advertising, Brand Management, Event Promotion, Graphical User Interface (GUI) Intelligence, Design and Execution, Manufacturing, Interior Design, Architecture, Software, Television/Video, Movie Industry
Niki DeGroot | J714 Final Report | Spring 2015
17 those changes that affect me, while keeping just generally aware of the other changes in the industry that affect the direction that industry is headed. For example, my business and my • livelihood have nothing to do with ePub or app development. So I don’t try to learn about those things at any level of detail. I am aware, generally speaking, of the capabilities of those technologies, but I don’t try to learn how to create publications using those technologies. I leave that to the people who use those technologies on a daily basis. Instead of knowing about the • technologies themselves, I prefer to know the people who have mastered the technologies, so that I can either ask them a question or refer work to them. •
I instead focus my efforts where they will make the most difference in my workflow: either by learning about new tools that will benefit my workflow, or by working with
developers who can create them. Those two things I pursue either personally with developers, or by participating in the Adobe pre-release programs. On one hand, being the first to know about new tools isn’t that important to me, because I am not a trainer. If I was a trainer (or book author, or lynda.com instructor), then yes, being the first to know about those tools would be more important because my knowledge of them, as well as my ability to teach them, would be tied to my livelihood. On the other hand, I like to stay informed
about new technologies because I may find a way to re-purpose them and incorporate them into my workflow to make the workflow either more efficient, more accurate, or produce a better end product. When I first started the workflow I was able to incorporate plenty of changes, but not so much now, as I am more at the refining stage, and have to delve more into the arena of custom tool development, by hiring developers to write plugins and scripts for me.
Job Outlook As exciting and fun graphic design courses can be, jobs one can expect to achieve upon graduation generate more daily projects than ever before. With the software available in addition to unlimited tutorials to self-teach from YouTube or Lynda. com, the responsibility is upon the designer if they cannot code HTML, CSS, or shoot a video as well as layout an email marketing campaign. The expectation, often unrealistic, to
NEWER MODEL: How Technology-Driven Changes Have Shaped Careers In Design
18 be an expert in any design realm whether it be print, web, mobile, video or photography is exhausting. The tendency to take on work beyond known comfort zones is a real threat to creativity and productivity. But if a designer chooses not to take on a web design project when they are most adept at print packaging design can stifle their growth and make them more expendable. It is no surprise that there is anxiety among many graphic design graduates, as well as designers who have jobs: the next boom of technology could quickly and easily make their skills obsolete. What was once done by hand by skilled craftspeople can be reproduced in mere seconds by just a few clicks of a mouse.
Will Print Die?
J: “I don’t see the decline in Find Your Tribe, Then newspapers turning around. Gripe There will be fewer and fewer After thoroughly exhausting produced in rural areas. yourself with a strenuous Metropolitan areas will continue graphic design degree and to see printed news from a job search, you finally land variety of places. With concern your dream job. Take care to to books, people are already never burn a bridge, because using Kindles and Nooks. My those that you learn from in the father, who was born in 1939 industry will likely stick around and is a voracious reader now and you might need to depend prefers a Kindle.” on them again later. Mobile First On April 21, 20a15, Google unveiled a new algorithm that positions mobile-friendly websites first in their search rankings. While this is mostly considered a good thing for users on mobile devices, companies that have yet to update their sites to mobile-first will suffer from falling in search rank. This again would be a useful skill for who are looking to learn web design: learn responsive design for mobile.
K: People will always prefer books over eBooks. Her husband Home Irrigation The push by Google to give Installation and Design prominence to search ranking (Sprinkler Systems). He would for websites equipped for have downloaded that on an mobile access proves mobileeBook. Newspapers are going first thinking will become the by the wayside. A newspaper standard for website design. could never compete with Designers should take this breaking news in live tweets. consideration very seriously But if it’s a piece that you would when faced with new websites keep in your collection get it they are contracted to create. in print. Printed books seem more trustworthy than ebooks. Ebooks are now so popular with self-publishing.
Niki DeGroot | J714 Final Report | Spring 2015
Another word on bridgeburning: always end a relationship with a client on a good note. With the current state of constant accessibility, it is very easy to turn up in someone’s Google search, for better or for worse. Always think of your personal brand. But if you must complain about your job or your clients or the state of the graphics industry, refrain from posting to your social media networks! There are many successful comedian graphic designers who give excellent and useful demos, while being selfdeprecating and cranky. Russell viers and the web series ‘“You Suck at Photoshop” have been touted as surprisingly educational (if mostly irrerevent) humor. You can learn how to scale an image of a divorce certificate in perfect persepctive while at the same time proving a point about marriage infidelity.
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1. DeGroot, Niki. “Survey: Technology and the Impact on Graphic Designers.” Google Docs Survey. Niki DeGroot, 27 Mar. 2015. 2. “Creative Jobs - Creative Staffing Agency | The Creative Group.” The Creative Group. 3. Smith, Denise. “Looking Beyond Print.” Personal interview. 23 Mar. 2015.
Bibliography
4. Vaughn, Kelly. “Looking Beyond Print.” Personal interview. 26 Mar. 2015. 5. Kritzer, Jamie. “Looking Beyond Print.” Personal interview. 25 Mar. 2015.
10. Carr, Nicholas G. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print. 11. Hird, Kenneth F. “Paste-Up for Graphic Arts Production Paperback,” April, 1990. 12. Graham, Walter B. Complete Guide to Pasteup. Philadelphia: North American Pub., 1975.
Image Citations • “Scanning Around with Gene: Pasteup Limericks.” CreativePro.com. • “Design before Computers Ruled the Universe.” Webdesigner Depot RSS.
6. Design students and recruiters. “Student Portfolio Review.” American Institute of Graphic Artists. Red Hat, Raleigh. 27 Mar. 2015. College prep interview. 7. “Graphic Design Job Outlook Summary.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Web. 09 Mar. 2015. 8. Wojciechowska, Iza. “Zine-makers, Comics Artists and Other Print-lovers Converge for the Zine Machine Festival.” Indy Week. Indy Week, 18 Feb. 2015. 9. Gallagher, Kelly. “Print-on-Demand: New Models and Value Creation.” EBSCO Host. SOURCE Publishing Research Quarterly;Jun 2014, Vol. 30 Issue 2, P244.
NEWER MODEL: How Technology-Driven Changes Have Shaped Careers In Design
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Just for Fun
Niki DeGroot | J714 Final Report | Spring 2015